WAM ABU DHABI: Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mubarak Al Nayhan, Minister of Public Works ‘&’ Chairman of the National Media Council stressed that the 31st GCC Summit, which starts later today in Abu Dhabi, is a significant step toward political, economic, security and cultural integration among the member states of the Cooperation Council of the Arab Gulf States (GCC).
“GCC succeeded in coordinating the media policies of member states and in achieving a unified form which takes into consideration the Council’s basic goals related to radio and TV stations, press, news agencies and external information,” Sheikh Hamdan said in a statement to WAM as he inspected the special media centre which was set up at Intercontinental Hotel, Abu Dhabi to facilitate coverage of the 31st Summit which is to be chaired by President His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
GCC, he noted, also succeeded in further strengthening coordination among media establishments to achieve the goals and honor its responsibilities towards nationals of member states and their common interest.
He added that joint media action aims to promote nationals’ belief in the role being played by member states through providing accurate and immediate information on joint action and also the nationalization of the media through proving equal opportunities for GCC nationals or commercial media.
Noting the achievements made by the UAE in terms of media and information over the last 39 years, Sheikh Hamdan said this turning point in the history of press in the UAE promote the country internationally thanks to the professional and technical developments in institutional media as well as the country’s commitment to elevate standards of journalism through continuous training at the world’s best specialized centers and the opening of many colleges of information at national universities.
“Figures speak loudly on the UAE achievements where 15 TV channels, 24 radio stations, 9 Arabic language dailies, 7 English language dailies, WAM and tens of weeklies, monthlies and periodicals operate in the UAE,” Sheikh Hamdan Said.
“The UAE hosts four media free zones where hundreds of regional and international media outlets operate. Abu Dhabi’s media free zone alone hosts 115 media outlets from all over the world while Dubai Media City hosts 875 outlets,” he added.
The information technology revolution has served our media plans, domestically and overseas, he noted adding that the National Media Council’s (NMC) website has made a quantum leap in multilingual disseminating information on the political, economic, social and cultural developments taking place in the UAE. He also made reference to WAM’s bilingual website which provides news in Arabic and English, photos and TV footages.
Sheikh Hamdan further affirmed NMC’s commitment to the continuous upgrading of services as well as to the expanding of the use of the internet which he said is a major part of its strategic planning.
“The UAE believes in the need for openness to other cultures and for introducing its own culture and comprehensive development. Therefore we have special interest in the UAE’s participation in the annual events held by GCC in the capital cities of other countries,” he said.
He stressed that GCC aspires for the unification of media policies of member states through discussing rapprochement and similarities to eventually reach a common vision which takes into consideration the basic goals of GCC.
“This ambition now faces by privatization of the public media, the abolishing of ministries of information in some GCC countries and the transforming of media outlets into independent institutions in most GCC member states. This trend would lead to focussing on coordinating positions, intensifying a unified and uniform overseas presence with a unified rhetoric and the encouraging of joint media projects in both the private and public sectors,” Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mubarak.
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